Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2754

A Jobs Agenda for Republicans

by David Frum

I suggest some ideas in the Financial Times today. 

A vote to repeal healthcare would be symbolic only: even if repeal passed, which it would not, the president would veto it. Extending the Bush tax cuts would be helpful to long-term economic growth – but hardly constitutes an effective anti-recession measure. The Bush tax cuts have been in force since 2001 and 2003. The crash of October 2008 and the ensuing recession happened anyway. The medicine that did not prevent the disease...

The Palin-Johnston Engagement

by Patrick Appel

Well, this explains Levi's recent apology. Ben Smith has new piece on whether Palin will run for president. His reaction to the engagement:

It's evidence that she is running to the degree that she's cleaning up
a messy family situation. It's evidence that she's not because, yet
 again, her efforts to emerge as a serious person are drowned out her
daughter's exclusive dish to USWeekly.

Sarah Palin - Ben Smith - Bristol Palin - Republican - Levi Johnston
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The Evolutionary Case For Monogamy?

by Patrick Appel

One of Christopher Ryan's readers asks:

My question is, could there be a natural selective pressure in post-agricultural societies to favor monogamy, such as if offspring raised by monogamous parents would be more likely to "succeed" (have higher fitness, or reproductive success) than those raised by single parents?

Ryan's answer:

What's the genetic correlate to "monogamy?" In other words, assuming there are no genesspecifically devoted to making one more or less prone to...

The Palin Model

by Patrick Appel

Drum believes that political candidates will shun the press in greater and greater numbers:

I'm putting my money on the Palin-ization of politics. Partly this isbecause the mainstream press is dying anyway, and partly it's becausePalin and others are demonstrating that you really don't needconventional press coverage to win. In fact, as Rand Paul and SharronAngle can testify, it's a real risk. Between YouTube and Twitter andFacebook and blogs and friendly talk radio hosts —...

The Mark Levin-Conor Friedersdorf Show

by David Frum

Why does Mark Levin keep taking the bait?

Watching the exchanges between Conor Friedersdorf and Mark Levin is like watching a boy toss stones at a caged rhinoceros in the zoo. 

Plink, plink, plink: the first two, three, four stones bounce off the grazing brute's leathery head. But at last the beast can endure it no longer. He charges at his tormenter – and crashes right into the zoo fencing. 

It happened again yesterday.

FrumForum blogger Alex Knepper cited Levin as a negative...

What Happens To DOMA Now?

by Patrick Appel

Jack Balkin runs through six scenarios.

Jack Balkin - Defense of Marriage Act - Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution - Law - United States Supreme Court

The Evolutionary Case Against Monogamy, Ctd

by Chris Bodenner

Dan Savage insists that personal accounts like this one (from a Dish reader) distort the debate:

[A:]s you read the sad stories about failed open relationships that are being offered in (over)reaction to Sex at Dawn—the authors don't actually advocate open relationships—please bear in mind that the voices of happy, content, and successful non-monogamous couples are almost entirely absent from this debate. ... While the successfully non-monogamous keep their mouths...

Is BP Uniquely Bad?

by Patrick Appel

Bradford Plumer weighs the evidence:

The company has a long record of safety violations—in 2005, an aging BPplant in Texas exploded, killing 15 people, and an after-action reportblamed "organizational and safety deficiencies at all levels of BP."Then came a large leak that poured 267,000 gallons of oil into PrudhoeBay, Alaska in 2006, thanks to poorly maintained pipes. And just thisyear, federal inspectors have found 62 safety violations at BP's Ohiorefinery. Yet BP never...

Yglesias Award Nominee

by Patrick Appel

"The jury [in the Oscar Grant case:] got it right. There's ample evidence that Mesehrle wasnegligent—likely criminally negligent. There's evidence thatMehserle and his fellow officers may have used excessive force thenight Grant was killed. There's also evidence that Mesehrle'sfellow officers tried to cover up the shooting by confiscating thecell phones of BART passengers who recorded the incident (, police can ask for your name and address to laterobtain a...

Evolutionary Psychology And Cougars

by Chris Bodenner

John Cloud presents new research showing "how evolution has encouraged women to be more sexually active as their fertility begins to decline and as menopause approaches":

This age group — 27 through 45 — reported having significantly more sexthan the two other age groups in the study, 18 through 26 and 46 andup. Women in their middle years were also more likely than the youngerwomen to fantasize about someone other than their current partner. Thenew findings are consistent...